Most camper trailers, motor homes and the like, which are required to have a certain ground clearance for highway travel, have a floor level which is sufficiently above ground level to need a couple of steps to gain access thereto.
Although one step can usually be provided right inside the vehicle, at the doorway, there is usually at least one step that is needed outside the vehicle and it is this step that presents the greatest problems.
Some people use a wooden box or a make-shift step, which they put out each time it is needed and take in when they are ready to move on. However, this is a great inconvenience and it is also very unsafe; since the box or make-shift step is not fastened down and can be unintensionally moved out of place or tipped over.
Weighting or fastening the step down only adds to the inconvenience of putting it out and taking it in each time, so this is no solution.
A step which is hinged or otherwise connected at the threshold to extend out and down for use and be swung back in or otherwise kept in the doorway for use when needed has also proven unacceptable because it is cumbersome to use, inconvenient during travel stops, and particularly annoying during inclement weather due to the time required to position it and/or store it away and the need to clean the step after each use.
Although retractable steps which are housed under the doorway have been proposed, none of these have proven too acceptable either. Those which are manually operated are inconvient to get at and operate, and consequently are seldom used during travel stops. Those which are power operated require a source of power to operate them, which is not always available during travel or at all stops, and the motor that is used adds considerably to their expense.
Retractable steps as presently known are also easily forgotten and left out when they shouldn't be and as a consequence of their low hanging disposition are easily damaged or broken-off.
What is needed is a power operated retractable step which does not use a motor, which is mounted under a doorway and lowered and extended for use when needed, is automatically retracted and stored away when the vehicle is to be moved, and which is still available for use at any time, when and as needed, during travel stops.